What are California politicians saying about the Senate health care bill?

Published 3:11 pm, Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Click through the slideshow to see how California politicians are reacting to the Senate health bill:

Click through the slideshow to see how California politicians are reacting to the Senate health bill:

Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle

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How are California politicians describing the Senate health care bill?

Jerry Brown:

Brown issued the following statement via Twitter: "Trumpcare 2.0 has the same stench - and effect - as the bill House Republicans and the White House slapped together last month: Millions will lose health care coverage, while millionaires profit. The American people deserve better."

In an LA Times op-ed, Harris stated that "the American people deserve better." She continues: "The Senate Republican plan would throw millions of Americans off their insurance, including potentially up to 5 million Californians. It would raise costs for middle-class families and seniors. It would put Americans with preexisting conditions at risk and cut hundreds of billions from Medicaid and Medi-Cal, which pays for everything from substance abuse treatment to support for children with special needs. That’s unacceptable."

Feinstein has sharply criticized the bill on Twitter. "The more I learn about the Republican health care bill, the more I dislike it — 4 million would lose employer-based health coverage next year!" The senator tweeted. "Every community in California depends on Medicaid. Republican health care bill ends that coverage as we know it."

In a June 26 interview on CBS, the House minority leader stated: "We do know that many more people, hundreds of thousands of people, will die if this bill passes."

Nancy Pelosi:

In a June 26 interview on CBS, the House minority leader stated: "We do know that many more people, hundreds of thousands of people, will die if this bill passes."

Photo: J. Scott Applewhite, Associated Press

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Kevin McCarthy:

The GOP House majority leader from Bakersfield who helped write the House bill is supporting the Senate bill. "Under Obamacare, Americans' health insurance options are disappearing at an astonishing rate," McCarthy tweeted along with a video that criticizes the Affordable Care Act.

The lieutenant governor and 2018 gubernatorial candidate tweeted: "Senate #WealthCare screws 22 million people out of health insurance. Anyone remember when the GOP talked about 'compassionate conservatism?"

The San Diego GOP congressman voted for the House version, and seemed to offer his support of the Senate bill, tweeting: "21% of all patients on Obamacare have only one insurer to choose from. Next year, many have zero options. This is why we must #RepealAndReplace."

San Francisco's mayor tweeted: "The CBO report confirms that the Senate health bill is no different than the House's. Millions will be stripped of healthcare," and: "Just like the House bill, the Senate version gives huge tax breaks for the rich at the expense of healthcare for the impoverished."

San Francisco's mayor tweeted: "The CBO report confirms that the Senate health bill is no different than the House's. Millions will be stripped of healthcare," and: "Just like the House bill, the Senate

During a June 23 campaign event, California's treasurer and 2018 gubernatorial candidate backed studies that predict that the Senate bill could lead to a loss of 209,000 California jobs. The studies found that the health care industry, "in part because of the Affordable Care Act," employs one in nine Americans. “And not only the loss of jobs, but people’s standard of living, standard of life," Chiang said. "Additionally, what (the Senate bill) does to California’s financial and fiscal picture would create great pause.”

The former Los Angeles mayor and 2018 gubernatorial candidate tweeted: "Democrats need to stop this bill. Republicans are drafting it in secret, putting millions of Californians at risk."

Antonio Villaraigosa:

The former Los Angeles mayor and 2018 gubernatorial candidate tweeted: "Democrats need to stop this bill. Republicans are drafting it in secret, putting millions of Californians at risk."

Photo: Paul Kuroda, Special To The Chronicle

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Barbara Lee:

The Oakland congresswoman took to Twitter to criticize the bill, stating: "Per the CBO score, 22 million people will lose health insurance under the Senate GOP plan. Republicans are gambling with people's lives here."

The San Diego GOP congressman stated that the Senate health care bill must pass in order for the GOP to move onto tax reform. "You have to pass health care reform before you pass tax reform because it saves billions and billions of dollars," Hunter said at a June 9 town hall. "We can't cut taxes unless you have a way to pay for them."

The Los Angeles congressman tweeted: "The CBO score shows that a vote for #Trumpcare is a vote for higher premiums and less coverage. It's a really stupid piece of legislation."

Ted Lieu:

The Los Angeles congressman tweeted: "The CBO score shows that a vote for #Trumpcare is a vote for higher premiums and less coverage. It's a really stupid piece of legislation."

Photo: Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press

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Maxine Waters:

The Los Angeles congresswoman took aim at the bill during a June 26 town hall, stating: "We can do better than this," and: "It's a lot that people would be losing."

Maxine Waters:

The Los Angeles congresswoman took aim at the bill during a June 26 town hall, stating: "We can do better than this," and: "It's a lot that people would be losing."

Photo: J. Scott Applewhite, STF

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Rand Paul, R-Kentucky:

Paul announced that he would not support the bill in its current form, but would be "open to negotiation and obtaining more information before it is brought to the floor." He stated: "It does not appear this draft as written will accomplish the most important promise that we made to Americans: to repeal Obamacare and lower their health care costs.

Cruz also announced that he will not support the bill in its current form. He states: "As currently drafted, this bill draft does not do nearly enough to lower premiums. That should be the central issue for Republicans – repealing Obamacare and making healthcare more affordable. Because of this, I cannot support it as currently drafted, and I do not believe it has the votes to pass the Senate."

The minority leader railed against the bill, stating: "President Trump called the House Republican healthcare repeal bill 'mean' and said that the Senate version should 'have heart.' Senate Republicans have published their plan and it's not just 'mean,' it's meaner. It doesn't 'have heart.' It's heartless."

Lee also stated that he will not support the bill. He tweeted: "It does not appear that health care bill draft will repeal Obamacare and lower health care costs as we promised to do."

Mike Lee, R-Utah:

Lee also stated that he will not support the bill. He tweeted: "It does not appear that health care bill draft will repeal Obamacare and lower health care costs as we promised to do."

Photo: Rick Bowmer, Associated Press

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Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin:

Johnson told reporters that he will not vote for the bill, and that Republicans and Democrats should start over on a bipartisan health bill.

Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin:

Johnson told reporters that he will not vote for the bill, and that Republicans and Democrats should start over on a bipartisan health bill.

Photo: Mark Wilson, Getty Images

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Kamala Harris, D-California

Harris tweeted: "All of us in Congress should be trying to help, not hurt, the people we represent. We owe it to them to vote down the GOP healthcare bill. To my colleagues I say: This is about what's right and what's wrong. If you know this bill is bad, stand up and stop it."

Collins was noncommittal, and her office issued the following statement: "Senator Collins will carefully review the text of the Senate health care bill this week and into the weekend. She has a number of concerns and will be particularly interested in examining the forthcoming CBO analysis on the impact on insurance coverage, the effect on insurance premiums, and the changes in the Medicaid program."

Franken criticized the bill, tweeting: "Minnesotans understand that the GOP health care bill will harm the well-being of millions of people in our state and across the country."

Al Franken, D-Minnesota

Franken criticized the bill, tweeting: "Minnesotans understand that the GOP health care bill will harm the well-being of millions of people in our state and across the country."

Photo: Andrew Harrer, Bloomberg

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Orrin Hatch, R-Utah

Hatch praised the bill, stating: "The discussion draft released today is an important step in our effort to replace Obamacare with patient-centered reforms that address costs, provide more choices, and ultimately put Americans – not Washington – back in charge of their health care."

Sanders tweeted that the bill is "even worse than expected," and called it "the most harmful piece of legislation (he's) seen in (his) lifetime."

Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont

Sanders tweeted that the bill is "even worse than expected," and called it "the most harmful piece of legislation (he's) seen in (his) lifetime."

Photo: JOSHUA LOTT, NYT

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Dean Heller, R-Nevada

Heller expressed "serious concerns" about the bill and issued the following statement: "Throughout the health care debate, I have made clear that I want to make sure the rug is not pulled out from under Nevada or the more than 200,000 Nevadans who received insurance for the first time under Medicaid expansion. At first glance, I have serious concerns about the bill’s impact on the Nevadans who depend on Medicaid."

Cassidy, the senator who said that a health care bill must pass the "Jimmy Kimmel test" to earn his vote, stated that this bill "begins to address" that test. The "Jimmy Kimmel test" refers to the television host's story about his newborn son who underwent life-saving heart surgery.

Scott was supportive of the bill, calling it "a much better plan than Obamacare."

Tim Scott, R-South Carolina

Scott was supportive of the bill, calling it "a much better plan than Obamacare."

Photo: Alex Brandon, Associated Press

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Rob Portman, R-Ohio

Portman offered mixed sentiments on the bill: "There are some promising changes to reduce premiums in the individual insurance market, but I continue to have real concerns about the Medicaid policies in this bill, especially those that impact drug treatment at a time when Ohio is facing an opioid epidemic."

Like Collins, Murkowski was noncommittal, and released the following statement: "Now that we have full text of the Senate's bill, I will do my due diligence and thoroughly review it. I will be working closely with the state over the next several days to analyze the text and crunch the numbers. It's no secret that healthcare needs to be reformed, but it needs to be done right."

Feinstein blasted the bill, tweeting: "Senate healthcare bill is Robin Hood in reverse. It takes health care from the poor to cut taxes for the rich!"

Dianne Feinsten, D-California

Feinstein blasted the bill, tweeting: "Senate healthcare bill is Robin Hood in reverse. It takes health care from the poor to cut taxes for the rich!"

Photo: Andrew Harrer, Bloomberg

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Roy Blunt, R-Missouri

Blunt offered his support of the bill, stating: "The draft health care legislation preserves access to care for people with pre-existing conditions, strengthens Medicaid and does not change Medicare, gives people more health insurance choices, and allows people to stay on their family health insurance plan until they are 26...American families need a more reliable and affordable health care system, and this bill takes important steps in that direction.”

Like other members of his party, Murphy unloaded on the bill. He tweeted: "No tweaks by amendment can fix this monstrosity. If you vote for this evil, intellectually bankrupt bill, it will ruin millions of lives."

What are California politicians saying about the Senate health care bill?

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After receiving no Democratic support and facing two factions of opposition from within the GOP, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell delayed the vote on the Senate's version of a bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act on Tuesday.

One faction is spearheaded by Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who do not believe that the bill goes far enough to replace Obamacare and lower premiums.

The other group is led by Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Dean Heller, R-Nev., who believe that the bill's Medicaid cuts are too extreme.

The Medicaid cuts have drawn fire from California Democrats, since 14 million Californians rely on the state's Medicaid program Medi-Cal.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that the vote will be delayed on the Senate version of the GOP health bill as members continue to work out the details. (June 26)